een wounded by a
musket-ball, was carried to Mantua, where he died. Whereupon M. Pietro
Aretino, who was the devoted servant of that lord, and very much the
friend of Giulio, desired that Giulio should mould a likeness of him
with his own hand as he lay dead; and he, therefore, having taken a cast
from the face of the dead man, executed a portrait from it, which
remained for many years afterwards in the possession of the same
Aretino.

For the entry of the Emperor Charles V into Mantua, Giulio, by order of
the Duke, made many most beautiful festive preparations in the form of
arches, scenery for dramas, and a number of other things; in which
inventions Giulio had no equal, nor was there ever any man more fanciful
in preparing masquerades and in designing extravagant costumes for
jousts, festivals, and tournaments, as was seen at that time with
amazement and marvel by the Emperor Charles and by all who were present.
Besides this, at different times he gave so many designs for chapels,
houses, gardens, and facades throughout the whole of Mantua, and he so
delighted to embellish and adorn the city, that, whereas it was formerly
buried in mud and at times full of stinking water and almost
uninhabitable, he brought it to such a condition that at the present
day, thanks to his industry, it is dry, healthy, and altogether pleasing
and delightful.

While Giulio was in the service of that Duke, one year the Po, bursting
its banks, inundated Mantua in such a manner, that in certain low-lying
parts of the city the water rose to the height of nearly four braccia,
insomuch that for a long time frogs lived in them almost all the year
round. Giulio, therefore, after pondering in what way he might put this
right, so went to work that for the time being the city was restored to
its former condition; and to the end that the same might not happen
another time, he contrived to have the streets on that side raised so
much, by command of the Duke, that they came above the level of the
water, and the buildings stood in safety. In that part of the city the
houses were small, slightly built, and of no great importance, and he
gave orders that they should be pulled down, in order to raise the
streets and bring that quarter to a better state, and that new houses,
larger and more beautiful, should be built there, to the advantage and
improvement of the city. To this measure many opposed themselves, saying
to the Duke that Giulio was doing too mu